Final Surprise!

So this whole trip was a series of surprises for Gene.

Surprise 1 - Destination! I only told him 2 days before.
Surprise 2 - Winchester House. We had heard about it but never gone to it!
Surprise 3 - Cottage - I knew he'd love our own little place!
Surprise 4 - Safari - He knows how I feel about animals so was totally surprised I booked this!
Surprise 5 - Redwoods - This was on his bucket list!
Surprise 6 - Hot Air Balloon - Knowing my fear of heights, he was in awe that I planned this!
Surprise 7 - Point Bonita - I know these ocean, cliff, fog things are among his faves!

The final surprise - Surprise 8 - was extra special and I didn't tell him about it until a few hours before.


While we were at Point Bonita I hired a personal chef to go to the cabin and prepare and serve our anniversary dinner.

The menu - I selected Gene's favorites:

Appetizers:
Mushrooms stuffed with spinach, bacon & goat cheese
Caprese Skewers

Soup:
Warm Tomato Soup with Basil Coulis

Entree:
Breast of chicken with Apricot/Cherry Sauce

Vegetables:
Stuffed Baked Potato
Glazed Baby Carrots

Dessert:
Apple Crumb with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

When we returned from Point Bonita our cottage had been transformed into a romantic restaurant complete with flowers and candles.

I forgot to take pictures of all of the food but here's the mushrooms (or 1/2 of them at least)

And here's the chef, Elyse Bolton of the Brass Spatula, and her assistant Kathleen. Can't believe they prepared such an extraordinary meal in such a short time in our cottage!

And not only do they prep, cook and serve, but they also clean up too!!!

Gene thought the dinner was fabulous - and I was thrilled that I was able to pull off all 7 surprises and that he loved them all. I am so happy I made the WRIGHT choice 34 years ago!

THE END of the 34th Anniversary Tale
but NOT the end of our Story!

Stay Tuned..for Time and All Eternity

Point Bonita!

I had heard about this lighthouse that is only accessible via a rickety wooden bridge that only allows 2 people to cross at a time. I knew I would be soooooooooooo afraid and I knew Gene would love it - so it definitely was a MUST on this trip.

Point Bonita Lighthouse is located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The hike to the lighthouse is steep in some spots but flat in others. And every great hike needs a tunnel!



It was a very foggy day when we went - which made the trek more exciting! The power of the ocean below the trail is unbelievable!

The bridge to the lighthouse is indeed wooden, rickety and scaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrry! (That's it in the background!)

I am so brave! The bridge sways with the wind!
And as you can see from my hair it was WINDY!

Love shot at Point Bonita!

Gene loved this place - and because he loved it - SO DID I!!!

More Balloon Pictures!

While hot air ballooning is quite expensive it is totally worth it. Because of fog in Napa Valley on our flight morning we were bussed to Winters for our flight.

Inflating the balloons

Preflight photo

Up, up and AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!


Instead of vineyards we saw orchards. Very beautiful.

During the flight the guy does a touchdown on water which is very exciting!
Beginning the deflation

Wow! Never thought I would have enjoyed it so much! Check another one off the bucket list!

Cottage

This is the adorable cottage we stayed in on our trip. It is called the Oaks at Olivet (it is located on Olivet Road in Santa Rosa and is within walking distance of 7 vineyards which we never walked to).

Here's the cute fireplace.

Kitchen/dining area.

Living room.

Bedroom.

Moon over the barn

Us at our little love nest in Sonoma.


The cottage was perfect! And only $100 per night!

Safari!

We signed up for a tour at Safari West is Santa Rosa. The place is an animal preserve. They take you on these big bus/trucks out into the fields where the animals are - you go right in the same field - no fences.

It was quite exciting - the truck ride on hills, up and down ruts and mud was an adventure in and of itself!

Those of you who know me know I do not like animals. Those of you who know Gene know he LOVES animals.

So going on this adventure really showed how much I'm willing to do for that luck guy!

The tour lasts 3 hours - which we were a little leery about at first - but it ended up being so FUN!

Our tour guide was a guy named Danny whose favorite word was "adaptation".

Gene was shocked that I would sit way up on the top bench - anything for you, babe! Of course, this is not a pic of our bus - we couldn't take a pic of ourselves! But on ours, I was seated right where the tall guy is.

While we saw many animals (cheetahs, rhino, etc.) Danny seemed most concerned about this male ostrich

This is the ostrich right next to Gene's shoe -
that's how close we got!
A big buffalo

This place has cabins that you can stay in overnight.
I had originally thought it would be fun to stay overnight - with the animal sounds going it would be like being in the jungle...
but then we saw that they had one species of animal that we could do without...

Its one of the reasons we came on this vacation - to get away from this!

I highly recommend this Safari West. Its pricey - and you must reserve weeks ahead - no walk ups. But totally a great experience ...even if you don't like animals.

BIG

Another place we visited on our 34th Anniversary Trip was Armstrong Woods State Preserve. It was located about 25 minutes from where we were staying.

Gene had always wanted to see some big redwood trees so this was it. Granted they weren't "drive-your-car-through" big - but they were plenty big for us!

We arrived shortly before 8 a.m. and followed the directions we'd seen in various guidebooks - park in the lot outside the park and walk in to avoid the park fee. The park was empty of people and full of fog ... ooooh - kinda spooky but really pretty! We hiked/walked maybe about 1 1/2 miles on various trails.

Gene lay on the ground to take this photo. The fog covered the top of the tree.

Weird stump with moss
and my eyes look crazy-person weird in this pic.


I have no idea who Parson Jones is but he sure has a BIG tree!

Finally, Gene let me take a picture of him - and as you can see
I am a sucky photographer - BLURRY!


Love Shot
What a GREAT morning!

That Woman Was CRAZY!

Our first stop on our 34th Anniversary Trip was Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California. The place was built by a woman named Mrs. Winchester. She married an heir to the winchester filfe family. She was told by some shaman that in order to make up for the lives taken by the rifle she would need to construct a home. She sure did! She had carpenters working 24/7 for 38 years. The "end" result was a home with 160 rooms (we saw 110 on the tour).

The house has staircases that lead to nowhere, doors that open to brick walls, windows in the floor and numerous other oddities.

It was an interesting tour.

After the tour we went to the place that was the REAL reason we wanted to come to California.

Gene and I LOVE IN-N-OUT Burger!
Need one in Hawaii - STAT!!!!